LaceDarius Dunn's girlfriend releases a statement

By now, you surely have heard about LaceDarius Dunn's arrest for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and the mother of his child. Today, that woman -- 22 year old Lacharlesla Edwards -- released a statement on the matter:

"My family and I are deeply disturbed about the misinformation and half truths that are being reported by media regarding the incident with my boyfriend. He has never struck me during our long term relationship. What happened on the night of September 27 was an accident and I went to the hospital for precautionary reasons. I never expressed any interest in pressing charges nor will I in the future press charges on this incident. I am fine and my jaw is not broken as is being reported. My family and I wish to put this situation behind us. Lace and I will continue our relationship and raising our son in a good environment. I respectfully request that the District Attorney's Office dismiss these charges, and further request that Baylor University lift their suspension."

Interesting, to say the least. There are two things that I think should be pointed out here.

• For starters, it is not the victim's decision as to whether or not there will be charges pressed. The prosecutor's make that decision, and while the victim's cooperation and testimony make a conviction that much easier, it is not a prerequisite.


• Edwards can claim that the injury she suffered was, in fact, accidental, but there is no disputing the fact that Dunn hit Edwards hard enough in the face that Edwards required immediate medical attention. Was it a punch? Was it reactionary? In the heat of the moment? Was Dunn simply startled? I have no idea. The only people that can truly answer the specifics surrounding the incident are Dunn and Edwards, but the bottom line is that is some way, shape, or form, Dunn's hand made contact with Edwards jaw. And short of Edwards intentionally trying to physically harm Dunn or their child, that is unacceptable.

Like I said in our post on the topic yesterday, it is going to be interesting to see what kind of punishment is given out by Scott Drew. Dunn is a potential all-american and will play a vital role in this season's run at Final Four. And while he did in fact put his girlfriend into the hospital, she is claiming it was unintentional. Will Drew go easy on Dunn, or will he ignore the girlfriend's claims and sit Dunn for an extended period of time.

It deserves mention that Dunn is the first Baylor player to be arrested since the whole Patrick Dennehy/Carlton Dotson fiasco.